What are nervous system disorders?

Also known as: nervous system problems, central nervous system disorders, peripheral nervous system disorders, autonomic nervous system disorders.

The nervous system is the part of the body that directs and coordinates all its actions by sending signals to and from different parts of the body. It is made up of two major divisions:

• the Central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)
• the Peripheral nervous system (which includes all the nerves).

Other organs of the nervous system include the eyes, ears, and other highly specialized sensory organs whose function it is to take information detected from the internal and external environment and transmit that information to the brain. Any condition that adversely affects the function of any part of the nervous system is called a nervous system disorder.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM